Copper, Again, Is All About China

The global copper market is counting on China's once-in-a-decade leadership change to turn the tide for prices, analysts and traders said.

Since hitting a record $4.6495 a pound early last year, futures prices for the industrial metal have sunk 25% as the global economy has sagged. Particularly worrying is that growth has slowed in China, which consumes 40% of the world's copper output.